Um, I already have a free messaging software on my iPhone, several actually (iMessage and FB messenger) why do I need another. It's a crowded space and I would say, as reflected in their market share, BBM is not very compelling.

Um, I already have a free messaging software on my iPhone, several actually (iMessage and FB messenger) why do I need another. It's a crowded space and I would say, as reflected in their market share, BBM is not very compelling.

It is probably going to be targeting businesses first and foremost but welcome to have the consumer service it can get.

BBM might pick up a few new users, and they might also regain users who fled the Blackberry ecosystem previously, hardware & services alike. But in terms of new users, what are its advantages? What does it bring to the table that a zillion (and a half) other services, already available on Android and iOS, don't? Encryption? Security? I mean, without some such strong and differentiating selling point, I don't see it ever doing better than breaking even, especially not if they're giving away the client apps, which would appear to be the case. I see long odds for little, if any return.

Though I am not massively attached to iMessage on the iPhone. BBM ll just be another app for me to download & persuade all my friends & family that already communicate with me via iMessage, Skype, FB messenger to install.

Though, if the rumors pan out to be true. The new BBM inc can easily build on it existing users and reaching out(with a incentive) to carriers & Android OEMs to preinstall BBM on their Android devices, likely replacing the default messaging app. If their resources is big enough....BBM inc can build a Modern UI(em em Metro App) to wrap up many users on windows 8 & d few ones on RT

The market is not slowing down for them though.

Oh yes! Hopefully BBM UI is much more better than the last I saw it. It's be eons now.

If only it was like email - it did not matter what message service you used, you could still reach out to the other. The problem is, checking to see if your friend is on which of the 5 non-SMS services you might use?

I use WhatsApp to chat with my wife, GTalk for a few friends, and hope nobody sends me an SMS since I don't have a plan and get charged for each.

I used to love using BBM. Then the rest of the BB platform started to suck. I moved to android. I learned to live without BBM. Recently I have a new found love of Google Hangouts. Consider BBM replaced.

They're garbage in comparison to BBM. I have lived without since the launch of the iPhone 4, and I've struggled along with the ugliness of WhatsApp. I would switch back to BBM for cross platform messaging in a heartbeat.

Great idea guyz!-- take one of the only remaining reasons why people still buy Blackberries, decouple it from your proprietary OS and then offer it on competing platforms for zero moneyz! Instant success!

If they want to be successful, their core model should be privacy, encrypted communications without anything in their power to intervene any log whatsoever. As much as I want to use an app to communicate with friends and family, I will not be using the favorable and widely debated Apps such as What'sApp and etc.. So difficult to make others use the proper apps.

BBM already offers voice chat, and the service would be expanded to offer a video chat feature similar to Google Hangouts and Apple's FaceTime. A BlackBerry spokeswoman would not comment on the report.

BBM already offers voice chat, and the service would be expanded to offer a video chat feature similar to Google Hangouts and Apple's FaceTime. A BlackBerry spokeswoman would not comment on the report.

True. Also, the number of users of BBM has actually been increasing, even as subscribers have been decreasing from about 80 million to 72 million or so, probably due to a greater mix of consumers in emerging markets vs. business users.

I think they're doing it so they can make deals with other companies at an arms length from Blackberry proper, for Android and iOS as well. Worth a shot since they decided to go cross platform anyway.

The Instant Messaging scene is very crowded already. BBM should act fast and bring some unique features which can grab attention against the likes of WhatsApp, Wechat, Line, Facebook Messenger, hike, etc. And ya, stickers won't help in that.

BBM already offers voice chat, and the service would be expanded to offer a video chat feature similar to Google Hangouts and Apple's FaceTime. A BlackBerry spokeswoman would not comment on the report.

Yes, it was one of the primary features highlighted in the big BB10/Z10 rollout early in the year. Remember them chatting live on video chat with London and how quick it was? I remember noticing that it was faster than the satellite video linkup they had.

I think this can work very well for BBM. #1) Ehile the Blackberry brand is done for, the BBM brand is still pretty strong IMO. There are still a ton of finance type guys, and international people I know who miss their BBM PINs. And women love it because they don't need to give numbers to anyone, but instead they can give their pin (and in turn block any stalker a, etc).

Also, I can absolutely see BBM evolving as a true mobile social network. IMO, they can easily be something like the next Facebook on mobile, without the stupid annoyances, if they play their cards right.

Of course, execution is critical and very difficult, but I think BBM has a huge opportunity here if they play their cards right (that being said, with BB's track history I expect them to be about years late. They are already about 2-3 years late with this decision).

I used to use BBM a lot back in the day. It had a lot of features like being able to send quick audio recordings, pictures, and other things fast and easy. I missed the Hell out of it when I moved over to Android, but not so much anymore as a variety of different services have appeared in the years since. Not so sure how BBM on it's own would fare today given the saturated mobile marketplace.

BBM already offers voice chat, and the service would be expanded to offer a video chat feature similar to Google Hangouts and Apple's FaceTime. A BlackBerry spokeswoman would not comment on the report.

That'll be that for Blackberry. Without BBM bringing people to the device, why bother?

And why should I care about BBM? What are they bringing that isn't already provided by a dozen other services? If they can provide *genuinely* secure communications, then that might play very well in today's the-NSA-is-watching-you environment. Otherwise, they're just another also-ran.

That'll be that for Blackberry. Without BBM bringing people to the device, why bother?

And why should I care about BBM? What are they bringing that isn't already provided by a dozen other services? If they can provide *genuinely* secure communications, then that might play very well in today's the-NSA-is-watching-you environment. Otherwise, they're just another also-ran.

Well, secure communications has always been their hallmark. They aren't able to decrypt any encrypted BBM messages, as several countries found out a few years ago. End to end encryption. That's why governments used them for so long. T. Heins, the CEO, emphasized that in some interviews in the last few months.

I'm hoping that they won't be sold to or bought up by a U.S. company. If that happens say goodbye to secure communications. Personally hoping they'll be bought by another Canadian group.

Well, secure communications has always been their hallmark. They aren't able to decrypt any encrypted BBM messages, as several countries found out a few years ago. End to end encryption. That's why governments used them for so long. T. Heins, the CEO, emphasized that in some interviews in the last few months.

I'm hoping that they won't be sold to or bought up by a U.S. company. If that happens say goodbye to secure communications. Personally hoping they'll be bought by another Canadian group.

Color me a little skeptical after the whole thing with India, et al. Given recent revelations (Snowden), the fact that we never heard anything about the US government demanding access smacks more of an NSL and the accompanying gag-order than it does of them nonchalantly "passing" on the BBM "goldmine."

Is the BBM service encrypted solely on each sending and receiving device, such that even they can't read or reconstruct the contents of user's messages? Blackberry seemed to be making that claim when India wanted access to the contents, but all of a sudden that demand was satisfied.

Well, secure communications has always been their hallmark. They aren't able to decrypt any encrypted BBM messages, as several countries found out a few years ago. End to end encryption. That's why governments used them for so long. T. Heins, the CEO, emphasized that in some interviews in the last few months.

I'm hoping that they won't be sold to or bought up by a U.S. company. If that happens say goodbye to secure communications. Personally hoping they'll be bought by another Canadian group.

Color me a little skeptical after the whole thing with India, et al. Given recent revelations (Snowden), the fact that we never heard anything about the US government demanding access smacks more of an NSL and the accompanying gag-order than it does of them nonchalantly "passing" on the BBM "goldmine."

Is the BBM service encrypted solely on each sending and receiving device, such that even they can't read or reconstruct the contents of user's messages? Blackberry seemed to be making that claim when India wanted access to the contents, but all of a sudden that demand was satisfied.

BB gave them access to the servers under threat of being banned in the country but maintained that they didn't have the keys to decrypt messages sent solely through their service (BBM to BBM). So, yes, it would appear that encrypted BBM messages are secure from device to device, at least using their own BB phones. This has always been Blackberry's hallmark. (If this is incorrect, please provide a link to support the correction.)

T. Heins referenced, around the time of the of the announcement of no BB10 update for the Playbook, that their communications were secure. This was after Snowden's early revelations. To the best of my knowledge Blackberry has never been mentioned in any of Snowden's revelations. If anyone knows better, please correct me.

BB is a Canadian company being CEO'd by a German/Canadian. I would expect the NSA to try to pressure them, but they have no legal means to compel BB to do anything outside of their own borders. I can also tell you that Canadian courts are much more stringent and serious about guarding privacy than U.S. courts. They've struck down legislation by our present Conservative government, more than once, that would've infringed upon privacy rights, they refused the U.S. gov's request for access to the Megaupload servers and have sued, successfully, their own government for actions that were perceived to be attempts to influence Judiciary independence. As well, the Canadian privacy commissioner has been vocal and influential in cases such as Facebook's privacy policies. There seems to be a stronger anti-government sentiment among official "watchdogs" in Canada regarding privacy rights.

The NSA or DOJ won't have any influence over BB actions north of the border. Canadian courts won't even extradite accused murderers to the U.S. unless they're assured no death penalty will be applied or other punishments outlawed in Canada.

BB is safe from NSL's outside of the U.S.. Inside, I have no idea, but their encryption, using their own phones, is supposed to be end to end (again correct me if this is wrong and maybe provide a link). That's why bad guys were using them and why Saudi Arabia and India wanted access.

As for no mention of demands for access from the NSA, they're not a U.S. company. (Remember what the guy from Lavabit said about "not trusting companies with 'Physical Ties' to the U.S.") I don't know where that leaves BB right now, but the U.S. thought they were secure enough for their own use, which may be either a good or a bad thing.

I can also tell you that Canadian sentiment regarding this NSA stuff is very negative. I haven't spoken to a single person, not one among a couple of hundred contacts, who isn't clearly opposed to any form of blanket or warrantless surveillance. People who know about it are freaked out, actually.